Just weeks ago, Bob Reeder was acting as the public face for seven developers who were negotiating to help pay for the Plymouth pipeline in order to ensure the long-term viability of their future projects.

Now, sources have told the Ledger Dispatch that Reeder is threatening to pull his project altogether - just as he and each of the seven developers are no longer offering to help pay for the pipeline at all.

Due to unknown events that transpired in closed Plymouth City Council sessions in the last few weeks, it's unclear exactly what soured the relationship between the developers and the city to the extent that Reeder would consider walking away from a project he'd devoted a great deal of time and energy to.

One explanation was that talk of the council exploring a 4 percent growth rate was the root cause of the individual developers' unease. During the Nov. 13 city council meeting, Reeder brought an expert to speak publicly about the detrimental problems other cities in the area have faced after sticking to an extremely low growth rate.

In a conversation with the Ledger Dispatch on Monday, Reeder made no mention of cancelling his development project in Plymouth, but did admit he had major concerns over the prospect of a 4 percent growth rate.

"That type of growth rate wouldn't work for the developers or the city," Reeder said. "It might preclude almost anything from happening in the city at all. Plymouth is already a town where not much substantial has happened in years. Because of that, I think the council is still learning about the efforts these things take."

Reeder downplayed reports that he was fed up with the city council and no longer wanted to work with them. "My company has had a good relationship with the council in the past," he added. "I expect that to continue."

Reeder's conciliatory tone on Monday seemed antithetical to the stance he and other developers appeared to show during the Nov. 13 council meeting. At least a few comments made by the developers were construed as being subtle attacks on City Manager Dixon Flynn. Plymouth Mayor Jon Colburn confirmed that a huge bone of contention for Flynn is that three of the seven developers still owe the city tens of thousands of dollars over consultant fees and studies done on their behalf.

"Bob Reeder is completely paid up, and so are a couple others," Colburn said. "But three of them still owe us significant amounts of money. They're making us all these promises of what great things their projects will do for the town and they can't even pay their current bills."

Colburn said the fact that the developers were no longer directly involved with helping to pay for the Plymouth pipeline meant the city would have to explore other avenues to recoup the money from them - possibly through development agreements and impact fees.

Colburn also sought to clarify his position on Plymouth's growth rate. The mayor said that recent comments he made to the Ledger Dispatch regarding wanting to push for a 4 percent growth rate were misunderstood.

"The 4 percent figure wasn't something I came up with, it's the growth rate that the environmental impact report for the pipeline requires in order to get USDA funding," Colburn explained. "I'm not sure exactly what growth rate the city will end up having. The one thing I know is that there has to be a process in place and proper steps to go through to protect the city from over-development. We citizens don't want this place to be another Elk Grove or El Dorado Hills. Right now, developers could bring the population up to eight to ten thousand tomorrow if they wanted." 

In other Plymouth news, incumbent Councilman Greg Baldwin appears to have eked out a narrow, three-vote victory over community activist Maria Nunez to hold onto his seat. While the results of the race have not yet been certified by the county elections office, Baldwin looks to have won the tiniest of margins. It's unknown if Nunez will request a recount.